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Hacktivism
thumb|500px|right|Information War Hacktivism uses the combination of hacking tools and activist framework to reach political ends, or for a political cause. Under this, hacking is done in a traditional sense, "A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities" however with a larger purpose than simply causing trouble. Hacktivism is another tool used by those working for social change. Electronic Disturbance Theater Electronic Disturbance Theater: founded in 1997 by performance artist, Ricardo Dominguez and other members of the group called Critical Art Ensemble; team of cyber activists + performance artists who work via the Internet to organize and program computer software to show their views against propagandist and military actions, and begin mobilizing micro-networks to act in solidarity by staging virtual sit-ins on-line and allowing the emergence of a collective presence in direct digital actions. Cyberactivists and artists engaged in developing theory and practice of electronic civil disobedience. They describe what they do as "working at the intersections of radical politics, recombinant performance art, and software design." Electronic Civil Disobedience Electronic Civil Disobedience (ECD) is any case of civil disobedience that uses co mputer or internet technology in their actions as a part of non-violent, disruptive protest. Many consider EC D to be synonymous with hacktivism, the main difference to be that hacktivists wish to keep their work anonymous. Virtual sit-ins are the most common use of ECD. The Critical Art Ensemble was the first to coin the term ECD, but it was first put in to practice by the EDT and its Flood Net program. The first showing of this program was at an Ars Electronic Arts Festival on Information Warfare. The Flood Net targeted web sites of the Mexican presidency, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the Pentagon as a way of showing solidarity with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Flood.NET Flood.NET is an Electronic Civil Disobedience (ECD) device used to flood or block a website by running a script that refreshes the current browser every 5-7 seconds. Reflects tactics of blockade and trespass. A computer-based program designed to facilitate "virtual sit-ins" (first use of this idea), which bring hackers together with the mission of making what they believe to be ideologically faulty websites inaccessible to others by overwhelming such sites with web traffic (a "denial of service attack" or DoS attack). Alignment with Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico - the group is interested in the intercontinental networks of struggle and resistance. Software was used to attack the Mexican and American gov. websites after their involvement in the Acteal Massacre of Chiapas civilians belonging to the region of Zapatista revolutionary action in Mexico (1998); in 1999, the group released their online civil disobedience software to the public as part of the "Zapatista Disturbance Developer's Kit." (promoting use of "tactical media" in New Media Activism, which involves the public deployment of low-cost communications tools to protest against government and corporate institutions in a wide-reaching, high-impact manner. Ricardo Dominguez Ricardo Dominguez is a co-founder of The Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT), a group who developed Virtual-Sit-In technologies in 1998 in solidarity with the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico. EDT's SWARM action was presented at Ars Electronica's InfoWar Festival in 1998 (Linz, Austria). He is Senior Editor of The Thing (bbs.thing.net). Former member of Critical Art Ensemble (1987 to 1994 - developers of the theory of Electronic Civil Disobedience in the late 80's). Currently a Fake-Fakeshop Worker (www.fakeshop.com), a hybrid performance group, presented at the Whitney Biennial 2000. Ricardo has collaborated on a number of international net-art projects: with Francesca da Rimini on Dollspace and with Diane Ludin on the Aphanisis Project. His essays have appeared at Ctheory (www.ctheory.org) and in "Corpus Delecti: Performance Art of the Americas" (Routledge, 2000), edited by Coco Fusco. Editor of EDT's book Hacktivism: network-art- activism, (Autonomedia Press, 2001). He is an assistant professor of visual arts at UC San Diego, and an expert on electronic civil disobedience. He teaches classes on ECD and Performance Art. His most recent project, creating a Transborder Immigrant Tool, an Immigrant satellite cellphone of sorts that assists immigrants attempting to pass through the US border. Dominguez was highly involved in the activism that occurred across UC campuses starting last year. "The bespectacled associate professor triggered a software program that continuously reloaded the home page of UC President Mark G. Yudof's website." (See links below) awesome! Sharon Daniel Sharon Daniel is a professor in the Film and Digital Media Department at UC Santa Cruz, she has taught classes on digital media as well as worked on research for various media projects with goals rooted in social change. She is also an activist working with the group Justice Now. Working with this organization has opened doors for some of her projects, including when she was able to bypass the media ban in California prisons in order to use media equipment for interviewing and documenting inmates' experiences. The project became Public Secrets, an interactive website experience (see links below). THE THING A lean, mean, media machine! THE THING is a non-profit organization committed to the development of new media culture and the arts. THE THING is a social network, made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of expert knowledge. It has built an exceptional array of programs and initiatives, in both technological and cultural networks. During its first five years, became widely recognized as one of the founding and leading online centers for new media culture. Its activities include hosting artists' projects and mailing lists as well as publishing cultural criticism. THE THING's multimedia lab has regularly hosted a variety of artists, including Vuk Cosic, Sebastian Luetgert, Nick Crowe, Prema Murty, Daniel Pflumm, Heath Bunnting, Beat Streuli and Mariko Mori. THE THING has also organized many events and symposia on topics ranging from the state of new media arts to intellectual property issues and the preservation of online privacy. THE THING has been generously supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous private individuals. Riseup.Net Riseup.net is a collective that provides online communcation tools created for folks working on social justice causes. This collective focuses on D.I.Y/self-determination ideologies that create "democratic alternatives" by creating their own form of communication instead of relying on a type of e-mail provider that can easily keep tabs on you by filtering through your personal information. This is a resource for activist groups to be have access to secure email, mailing lists for their organization and comprehensive information regarding all kinds of online security measures. Whether it be for viruses, ,email security, or spam. External Links What is hacktivism? More Info on EDT ECD Overview by Brown Univeristy LA Times article on Dominguez Sharon Daniel Projects: Public Secrets Need X Change Narrative Contingencies Palabras Blood Sugar THE THING Information War-The Hacktivists on The Sprawl Category:riseup.net